Aids patients living in the dark in Oman

File picture of a patient. Image Credit: The Gleaner Company, Ltd.

  

Government working tirelessly to raise awareness and reduce stigma so patients can get treatment and lead normal lives

 Fahad Al Mukrashi, Correspondent

January 7, 2017

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Muscat: Diagnosed two years ago with Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), which causes Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS), Majid, a 33-year-old Omani resident of the capital’s Mutrah district, kept his disease a secret.

“When I found out that I was diagnosed with HIV in 2014, I only told my family. I don’t want to tell others as I’m afraid of the stigma and discrimination that will follow,” said Majid, whose name has been changed to protect his identity.

Majid said that some friends of his who were also infected with the virus took their own lives out of shame. “I hope that society has mercy on AIDS patients as they feel marginalised,” he said.

Majid, a shy and soft-spoken man, is one of an estimated 1,679 people living in Oman with AIDS/HIV, according to new figures released by the Ministry of Health. The majority are males, while 515 are females. Most of the cases were in Muscat (682) followed by the Buraimi governorate (385) and then North Sharqiyah governorate (135), with their ages ranging between 25 and 49.

Majid caught the virus after having sex with a prostitute in a South East Asian country in 2014. “It was the darkest day of my life. I’ve lost everything since then. I was planning to get married that year but after I was diagnosed with HIV, everything fell apart,” he said, crying.

Majid lives a quiet and seemingly normal life and plays football in his neighbourhood with friends every day. “I’m 100 per cent sure if they know about my disease, they will leave me,” he said. 


Majid went for a medical check at a private hospital in Muscat after returning from the trip abroad. “The results of blood test showed that I was HIV positive. It was an utter shock for me. I couldn’t sleep or eat for days. It was very tormenting,” he said. He attempted suicide four times with the help of a conventional weapon his family owns. He later came to terms with his disease and decided to live with it. Many Omani families own guns whether for decorative purposes, protection or for hunting.

Majid, who works as an accountant in a bank in Muscat, hopes to one day establish a nongovernment organisation (NGO) to raise awareness about HIV and AIDS, and to fight the stigma and discrimination attached to those who suffer from it.

Three other HIV patients Gulf News spoke to were reluctant to come out and share their stories due to fear of stigma. “Only a few people will be sympathetic to us, but the rest, I don’t think so,” one of them said.

Despite intensive awareness programmes which were carried out to combat stigma against HIV patients, many patients are reluctant to get treatment.

“AIDS patients should stand on their own feet and go for treatment,” Majid, who regularly receives treatment from a government hospital in the capital Muscat, said. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), only 53 per cent of AIDS patients in Oman receive drugs that impede the spread of the virus.

According to Dr Edrees Al Abaidani, head of the Combating Infectious Diseases department at the Ministry of Health, social stigma over AIDS is the main cause of patients avoiding treatment, adding that social stigma severely impacts the social life of the patient. People with AIDS are able to carry out near normal lives if they undergo proper treatment, he said. The main treatment for HIV in Oman is known as anti-retroviral therapy and is available in Omani government hospitals.

“Everyone has to pay for his or her mistakes and I did. I dream of having a family like many others. I hope that the society be more helpful to us. We are part of society,” said Majid.

Khalid Hamdan, a psychologist, agrees that society needs to be more caring and supportive of AIDS patients. “They feel isolated from the community as they fear stigma and discrimination all the time,” Hamdan said. He added that the AIDS patients confront a range of psychological challenges including worsening quality of life, stigma, uncertainty and fear of death.

According to the latest figures issued by the Ministry of Health, 142 new HIV cases were registered in 2015 alone, which constitutes 26.7 per cent increase compared to 2014.

The increase is attributed to the gradual decline in the stigma related to the disease and the intensive awareness campaigns, according to the Ministry of Health, which has been raising awareness of the disease through workshops and lectures nationwide.

On December 1, it held an event on the occasion of International AIDS Day.

An official at the Ministry of Health told Gulf News that the Oman government had adopted a number of strategies for the prevention of AIDS/HIV, including awareness campaigns, counselling and voluntary testing and measures for preventing mother-to-child transmission. “The situation is under control in the country as the prevalence of AIDS\HIV is very low,” said the official.

Oman reported its first AIDS case in 1980, and the first child contracted the virus in 1984.

The government spends more than 30 million rials (Dh286 million) annually to provide medical treatment for AIDS patients, according to the ministry.

HIV continues to be a major global public health issue, having claimed more than 35 million lives so far, according to WHO.

There were approximately 36.7 million people living with HIV at the end of 2015. sub-Saharan Africa is the most affected region, with 25.6 million people living with HIV in 2015.

There is no cure for HIV infection but effective anti-retroviral (ARV) drugs can control the virus and help prevent transmission so that people with HIV could enjoy healthy, long and productive lives, according to the WHO.

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